Descent chronograph for $150?

[Lizard333]

I'm looking to buy a chrony and I need some advice. I've got $150 or so dollars and would like a chrony that works in full sun. A detachable face to bring to the bench would be nice as well.

What brands do you guys use? Anything I should know?

Thanks for the help!

[lka]

Do not buy the rcbs!! I did and man what a Disappointment! The whole case came apart about the 5th time setting it up ill have to make a new case for it or toss it and buy a new one

[Lizard333]

Do not buy the rcbs!! I did and man what a Disappointment! The whole case came apart about the 5th time setting it up ill have to make a new case for it or toss it and buy a new one

Wow. That was my first one. That's why I'm looking for a descent one. Not cr@p.

[ku4hx]

For me, chronographs are like electronic scales and micrometers: buy a cheap one and you've bought a cheap piece of equipment. I've had my PACT for over 20 years and it still works flawlessly.

[pcarpenter]

I didn't buy the Pact due to my lousy support experience with my Pact scale. I bought one of these after reading reviews and am happy. It doesn't put the controls on the bench as you desire without buying either the pc software or the remote but the display is very readable from the bench. My needs were simple but I still may buy the software at some point. I paid $99 on sale a few years back. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/852429/competition-electronics-prochrono-digital-chronograph
Paul

[fredj338]

My early model PACT screens were ***. The CHrony line has the worst screens of any on the market. If I did not have an Oehler, the CED would be the best bang for the buck IMO.

[woody1]

FWIW, I have a Chrony beta master and I've been happy with it. Regards, Woody

[NHPaul]

I bought the competition electronics pAL model and its OK does not work great in full sun. And I shot the damn thing the 3rd time I used it.
Paul

[lka]

Wow. That was my first one. That's why I'm looking for a descent one. Not cr@p.

Lol, Did you have a bad experience too?

[Lizard333]

Yep. The wind got the best if mine. One tumble and the case disintegrated. Waste of a hundred bucks.

[Skip62]

another vote for the Competition Electronics Pro Chrono. I've had one for over 20 years. It's been shot, the arms the stick up have been shot repeatedly, it's blown over in the wind countless times. I've had to pop the top and hot glue the boards back in several times, but it still keeps perfect speed. I'm USPSA shooter that uses a chrono a LOT!!! and this thing rocks. If I were smart, I'd replace the steel arms with wood or plastic so when I shot them it wouldn't knock the boards out of place, but I'm not....;-) The new one can be hooked to a computer to download the results with an extra cable. If I'm not mistaken, combined they fit your budget. The CED have about a 2 year life span from what friends that have bought them have told me.

[fouronesix]

The expensive ones gut, skin and taste just like the cheap ones.

Over the years, I've used several types because they were handy and could borrow them anytime- some were top-o-the-line brands and models. The display unit for the bench is just something else to fool around and piddle with. After all, at 15 feet it's not too hard to see the display on the unit itself. I bought the cheapest, most basic Chrony brand I could find a few years ago for $79- the F-1. Has operated flawlessly since. Treat them like any electronics. Learn how to use them, don't shoot them and most will do fine.

[mroliver77]

I have had a CED for 5 or so years and am happy with it so far. The only problem is gale force winds come up suddenly when you set it up! ;)
Jay

[montana_charlie]

I bought the cheapest, most basic Chrony brand I could find a few years ago for $79- the F-1. Has operated flawlessly since. Treat them like any electronics. Learn how to use them, don't shoot them and most will do fine.
I also get reliable readings from a Chrony F-1, and I bought mine used.
With the addition of a homemade pushbutton switch it will also give up all of those other numbers for a string ... like Hi, Lo, Average, Standard Deviation, and Exteme Spread.


But, about that 'descent chronograph' ...
Is that one which measures the speed of a bullet going straight down?

CM

[454PB]

But, about that 'descent chronograph' ...
Is that one which measures the speed of a bullet going straight down?

CM

Subtle, CM, subtle.

[Randy C]

I was always told the RCBS work good in the sunlight. but the plastic case falls apart if I had one I would silicone it together before it broke. One guy told me it worked as good as his old pact 35. I may have been told wrong.

[flounderman]

never had a problem with the chrony.

[Mal Paso]

Save some of the budget for a Good Tripod. Heavy is better or hang sandbags from the centerpost.

Chrony Beta Master here. It was shot twice and left for dead. After 4 hours of intense surgery it lives but will never fold again!

[olafhardt]

I have an f1 Chrony. I used it to claim the title that I brag about in my signature. It worked last time I used it. If it doesn't work next time I take it I might shoot it agian. Sometimes the things respond to threats. When you get a new one, set it up, wave your firearm of choice at it and read it the riot act. It can't hurt.

[dromia]

CED Millenium has worked well for me over the years, I also rate the Steinert acoustic chrono as it is easy to use especially in windy conditions as it has no sky screens or electric string, a bit beyond your budget though.

[MaineJim]

Ive used a Chrony for over fifteen years,Beta model and other than its like to have the sun overhead it has worked flawlessly.

[Lloyd Smale]

had two chronys. Junk in my opinion. They were real fussy about light conditions and didnt give reliable readings. I then bought a pact. It worked great for the first few times but now is into pact because it doesnt work. I had to do some chrony work the other day and went to my buddys to use his ohler. It had a busted screen so we had to use his backup which is one of the rcbs bullets. He claimed hes never had a problem with it and it reads spot on to his ohler. Set it up in bright sunlight and it worked perfect even under those conditions. When i get a few bucks ahead im going to pick one up myself for a backup

[gtgeorge]

CED works for me and came highly recommended by another user that has used many others and settled on it. It has been pretty good so far and I have had it around a year.

[Mk42gunner]

Ten or twelve years ago, I bought one of the old fold up Chrony's from a retiring gunsmith. It has always worked, as long as the battery is good. I usually check it with a couple of rounds of .22 LR at the start of a session, sometimes it seems like it needs to wake up and misses the first shot of the day.

If the second shot reads somewhere close to 1285 (average speed of that one box of .22's) I haven't had any other problems. IT doesn't have a remote readout though, and no string counter.

I just bought a Pact Professional at an estate sale; I will see how I like it, then the other one will probably get put up for sale.

One thing I learned in the deserts of Nevada, if there is the slightest chance of a breeze, tie your chronograph's tripod to something heavy, it is not a good feeling ot see your new chronograph falling just as the shot breaks.

Robert

[MrWolf]

I have the Chrono Beta Master. Works just ok - seems to be temperamental with light conditions but when it does work the screen at the bench is a +.

[lka]

I was always told the RCBS work good in the sunlight. but the plastic case falls apart if I had one I would silicone it together before it broke. One guy told me it worked as good as his old pact 35. I may have been told wrong.

I only used it before sunrise, it's when I get to shoot before the time change. I rigged led lights on the sunscreens and it read well, never picked up 100%

And besides the case falling apart, the tabs that hold the computer to the body, the tabs that close the back end and the tabs holding the clear screen cover all broke, lol

[DougGuy]

I asked a retired gunsmith about his, and although he had sold the backup unit he had, he gave me this advice in email:


You're about a week too late ... just sold my old "Chrony" to a friend. I bought it back in 1993 and it still worked OK. When I had my shop, I invested in a top-of-the line Oehler dual sky screen chronograph. I got so I wasn't using it so I sold it .... big mistake!! I struggled with the Chrony for a couple years then decided to spend my Christmas gift on a new one. After doing a lot of research, I ordered a Competitive Edge Dynamics (CED) M2. I must say ... this unit is light years ahead of the Chrony and compares favorably with the Oehler ... except it does not have the dual sky screens. The control unit actually has more features than the Oehler. It comes with a USB cable and a software program where you can download your chronograph data to a PC or laptop. The unit stores tons of data .... more that I would ever need. Setup is very easy and quick ... much better than the Oehler and it comes with 20 foot remote cables. The voice chip even talks to you and reports each shot. So far, it seems to be pretty fault free and not nearly as fussy about lighting conditions as the Chrony. I've only used it a few times but I'm really impressed with it. It lists for $199 + $20 shipping. I ordered direct from the manufacturer ... full pop ... so you may find the same unit for less elsewhere. Their web site is: www.cedhk.com

I think all brands of chronographs are quite accurate ... some (like the Chrony) are very fussy about lighting conditions. I found myself working for it rather than it working for me but once I made it happy with the right light conditions, it worked very well. My shooting buddy had a Pact (all in one unit) that was also very fussy. I would highly recommend getting a unit with a remote ... saves a lot of time and leg work.

I haven't bought one but I know which one to look at when I do get ready for it.

[Mal Paso]

I use a couple plastic panels to increase reliability. Reflections off the bottom of the bullet can cancel the shadow of the sky screens. Has helped a CED M2 also.

[Tatume]

I use the Chrony F1. Wonderful instruments, and they work perfectly in full sun. They are easy to set up. I don't like the models with a detachable read-out, as all it does is make things more complicated. The numbers on the F1 are big and you can read them from the shooting bench.

[Rick Hodges]

I have used the same basic Pro-Chrony (like the one for sold by Midway) for the past 15+ years. I dropped the case on a concrete sidewalk and have duct taped it back together. I built a wooden box with a double plexiglass front to protect from departing gas checks and sabots....but it still works. Use the opaque screens in the sunlight.....and do not use near incandescent or flourescent lighting....the chrony will pick up the alternating current and play heck with your readings.

Bottom line is I am happy with mine and would buy another if mine craps out. I use mine on a camera tripod.

[landers]

I am a Shooting Chrony fan, they are tough as nails and accurate enough for any hand loading I will ever do. The first one my father got 20+ years ago finally decided it had read enough bullets and quit working. That chrony had been well used, knocked around at the range, and even a few slight impacts but keept on working. My dad got that one as a Christmas gift, quite an exotic tool at the time, and me being a eager young man had to try it. We got out the pellet gun and he gave me the first test shot through this new amazing tool. The excitement must have been over whelming to me as I but that dang pellet smack dab in the center of the LCD screen. I thought for sure my life was about to end but when I finally got the courage to look at my dad he simply said "better aim a little higher" loaded the gun and handed it back to me. For 20 years I have been reminded of that day every time used it, that pellet dimple staring out me saying "aim high". Two weeks ago karma showed up, I bought a new beta master chrony and of course on the first day of use my dad tripped over the remote control cable bringing the tripod and chrony crashing to the concrete floor sending parts every where. We reassembled the parts, reminisced about our luck on breaking in chronys and went on with our testing session. I figured this one should last another 20 years as well.

[rsrocket1]

I have the Chrony Beta Master and am very happy with it. I am very glad I got the Master version with the remote head. I shoot almost exclusively at a controlled range and would have a tough time if I had to read the speeds on a screen at the sensor unit much less try to operate it. As for the added features of the Beta vs. the Alpha, I don't really need the 6 shot string memory because I write down each shot velocity on a notepad anyway and transfer the data to an ongoing Excel spreadsheet that also calculates Lo, Hi, Average, Extreme Spread and Standard Deviation as well as recording the shooting conditions of the day, what I shot and what the performance was compared to the Quickload predictions:
72822

The chrony does have problems if the sun is way down and behind you (like near sunset while you are shooting east). A good idea is to bring along a .22LR gun, airsoft gun or BB gun to test out your setup prior to shooting your valuable rounds. If the conditions are not good, you didn't lose any important readings.

Another hint is to replace the metal skyscreen rods with wooden dowels. That way if (when) you shoot the rod, you will simply shatter the rod rather than rip out the plastic rod holders which are part of the sensor unit. I use 3 Panda Express chopsticks for each rod. 2 back to back is the perfect height and diameter and the 3rd is used as a "support" with sewing thread wrapped around the sticks and held together with superglue (very strong, flexible and easily replaced).

The skyscreen parts and remote cable fit in a gallon Ziplock bag, the rods fit in a piece of PVC pipe cut to lenght and capped with PVC elbow joints (easily removable) and the whole thing goes into an Eddie Bauer carry bag I found at the thrift store for $2 and I mount it all on an old camera tripod also from the thrift store for $5.

Hope that helps.

[Tatume]

Personally, I like the steel rods. My first Chrony had a folded cardboard cut-out that had tabs that fit into slots on the Chrony unit. When my friend shot it, Chrony sold us a new one for half price with the "trade in." The new one had the metal rods and it is just wonderful! (At least by comparison.) :-)

[RobsTV]

another vote for the Competition Electronics Pro Chrono. I've had one for over 20 years. It's been shot, the arms the stick up have been shot repeatedly, it's blown over in the wind countless times. I've had to pop the top and hot glue the boards back in several times, but it still keeps perfect speed. I'm USPSA shooter that uses a chrono a LOT!!! and this thing rocks. If I were smart, I'd replace the steel arms with wood or plastic so when I shot them it wouldn't knock the boards out of place, but I'm not....;-) The new one can be hooked to a computer to download the results with an extra cable. If I'm not mistaken, combined they fit your budget. The CED have about a 2 year life span from what friends that have bought them have told me.

Ditto on the "Made in the USA" Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital. But after shooting the steel rods off a couple times, I did replace them with wooden dowels. Of course never hit them.

1000's of rounds through my ProChrono Digital, from 22's to 500's, as well as several BP rifles, in full blast Florida mid day sun, or near dusk, and it never missed recording a shot. I did get the add on plexiglass shield/cover. Also have the optional software with USB dongle connection, so can control everything remotely on the chronograph from the shooting bench with an old and cheap, previously useless netbook, even during hot range. Software has "big number" setting, which when used shows each shot in huge yellow font on black background, filling entire screen. Can't miss that on a 10" screen. But the ProChrono Digital has enough built in memory, 9 strings of 99 shots, that many times I don't bother to bring the netbook, and just use it as is, then use laptop after I get home to quickly save data, including PF.

Hope to never need it, but nice that they have an out of warranty replace/repair service never more than 50% of new cost.

Spent a few days reading reviews of all the sub $150 Chronographs, and by far the ProChrono Digital had the most positive and least negative reviews out there. I can see why it rated so well.


With C&R discount at Grafs (the savings on this one purchase was practically enough to pay for the $30 3 year C&R):

COMP ELECT PROCHRONO DIGITAL CHRONOGRAPH (CE3800)
1 in cart -- $84.99 each

COMP ELECT PROCHRONO USB DIG. INTERFACE w/SOFTWARE (CE3810)
1 in cart -- $35.99 each

[fredj338]

Why would anyone want to shoot at the gut of their chronograph? Something will eventually hit the box. I also accuracy test during chrono sessions, so accurate screens are a must. One reason the Chrony line get shot so much are the finicky screens. If you are not dead center & a max of 8" above the screens, you will get a lot of error readings. Just food for thought. Cheap is fine if it works for you, the Chrony line just does not for me.

[Tatume]

The window of the Chrony is about 12" high, and anywhere in that vertical range will give good results.

The photo cell is not very wide, so the horizontal placement must be fairly precise. However, anybody should be able to hold two inches at 15 feet!

The reason they get shot is because sabots come off and drop below the path of muzzleloading bullets. I put a piece of Lexan front of mine when shooting modern muzzleloaders.

Chronys don't get shot any more often than any other brand. It's just that Chrony is good about taking care of customers, so we hear about it more often.

[RobsTV]

For comparison, the Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital screens give you 13.5" vertical clearance, and 1/2 way up (or dead center) the horizontal clearance is 7". Basically, a 7" target fits in the desired shooting window. Think you always hit a 7" target at 10-15 feet? Probably. But yes, same as many others, stuff happens, and I have hit the rods, so shots were outside the desired window. Photo cells are very good, and still accurately recorded those two times I was outside the desired window and hit the rods.

[Tatume]

Well, frankly I don't know how wide the Chrony window is, because I've never had a shot fail to record. This appears to be a non-issue. Same with the 12" vs. 13.5" high window; who cares if every shot goes in and gets recorded?

[MrWolf]

Mal Paso that looks like an easy fix that may help with mine giving me problems - thanks.

[Boolseye]

+1 on the chrony f1. Works fine for me. I usually just set it on a table. When I bring it to the range I use a tripod, I throw the sunlight things on if it isn't reading well. I don't much care about standard deviation, etc. etc. so I don't have the remote.

[Pakprotector]

I have a blue Chrony. I don't have any PB experience with it yet; I've only used it with airguns and have yet to join the Shot My Chrony Club. It was less than $100 through Walmart a year and a haff ago. I'd buy another( or more likely force who ever shot it to buy another ).
cheers,
Douglas

[Baryngyl]

I didn't buy the Pact due to my lousy support experience with my Pact scale. I bought one of these after reading reviews and am happy. It doesn't put the controls on the bench as you desire without buying either the pc software or the remote but the display is very readable from the bench. My needs were simple but I still may buy the software at some point. I paid $99 on sale a few years back. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/852429/competition-electronics-prochrono-digital-chronograph
Paul

I bought the same one with the USB cable to hook it to the computer.
Only used it 3 times so far, the first time it was getting close to dark and was cloudy, it did not work very well.
The next 2 times it was the middle of the day, nice and bright out, it worked fine.
I have a camera tripod I picked up at a yardsale, it has a tilt/pan head I think they call it on it, not only can you rotate and tilt forward/backward it has a ball socket type thing that lets you tilt it to the side too, I use it to tilt it so that the sun is pretty much pointing straight into the sensors.


Michael Grace

[fcvan]

I bought a Chrony back in 1987 with the fold up cardboard screen diffusers. The box it was in got water damage when a roof leaked during a storm. I didn't notice it until some time later when I was moving boxes around. The metal case was rusted badly and I figured it was shot. I put it up figuring it was toast but didn't want to throw it out.

I bought my brother a Chrony a couple years ago and his works great. I read where you can send one in and get it refurbished. So, I planned on sending it in but on a lark stuck a battery in it. The darned thing still works. Now, I want to disassemble, wire brush it, and powder coat it. I like the rods on the newer model an will try the wooden dowel suggestion. I also want to try the dark screen boards on the sides. I also like the idea of using l.e.d. lights so as not to be dependent on proper sun conditions.

[Artful]

Happy Chrony owner here.
And yes get a GOOD Tripod to go with it.

[Shiloh]

I have a blue Chrony. Work great. SHot my first one.

Shiloh

[jules]

Have had my ProChrono for a looooooooong time. No problems.